William Scott Tanksley, who went by Scott, was hired as a Dallas firefighter in 1999. Two years earlier, he was pitching in the Minnesota Twins farm system. The Twins drafted him in the 22nd round of the 1995 amateur draft out of Mississippi State University.

He was “one of the best relief pitchers in our history,” university baseball spokesman Kyle Niblett said in an email. He said Tanksley was a Mizuno freshman All-American in 1993 and was the last freshman in school history to throw a complete-game shutout. He ranks in the top 10 in school history in seven statistical categories.

He also made the SEC Academic Honor Roll in 1995.

Before that, Tanksley was a star baseball player in high school at Kemp.

Scott Tanksley (Courtesy of Mississippi State University)

His father is an electrician in Kemp, said Jim Hayes, a neighbor. When Tanksley was home, he helped his father wire houses, Hayes said.

“Scott just worked all the time,” Hayes said.

Hayes said Tanksley “was a good neighbor” and a “fine fellow.”

“He would do anything he’d ask him to help you with,” he said.

Tanksley also spent a lot of time with his children, friends said. Dallas Fire-Rescue officials say Tanksley left behind three children, ages 4-13, and his wife.

Hayes said Tanksley coached his son in Little League. His daughter is a seventh grader in the Kemp Independent School District, where Tanksley’s mother and wife used to work.

Superintendent Sam Swierc said Tanksley’s family is “well-respected and great supporters of the school district. He said he had been following weather news last night and heard about Tanksley, who he had just recently seen at a school board meeting.

“It’s certainly a shock to everybody,” he said. “When I found out, it took me aback pretty hard.”

James Whitehead, a neighbor of Tanksley’s father and the Kemp city administrator, said he was “very saddened” by the firefighter’s death.

He said Tanksley and his father enjoyed hunting for white-tailed deer. Hayes, the neighbor, said Tanksley had recently asked him if he had any ducks on his property that he could hunt.

“He was very much a family person,” Whitehead said. “He’ll be missed in this community.”